"• The National Convention is part of the problem and not the solution to Burma?s troubles. The results will intensify the root causes of the ethnicbased conflicts perpetuated by Burma?s successive military regimes. • The National Convention, which is tasked with producing detailed principles for a new constitution, remains a fundamentally flawed and inherently illegitimate process aimed at formalizing and prolonging military rule in Burma. • Ethnic groups and the National League for Democracy have consistently proposed steps to salvage the National Convention and transform it into a venue for dialogue; however these recommendations have been rejected. • Originally devised by the military regime as a tactic to avoid convening Parliament after it lost the 1990 elections, the National Convention was mothballed in March 1996, and then revived in 2004 as part of the ?7-point roadmap to democracy”. The roadmap was a response to heightened regional and international pressure following the Depayin Massacre..."